After a tough 5-4 loss to cross-county rival North Paulding last week, the South Paulding baseball team put themselves in a three-way tie with Allatoona and Hiram for second seed in the region.

Head coach Pecos Galamore said his guys lost the game in the last inning, but admits that they did not begin the game like they should have.

“We came out real flat in the game. You expect your team to show up against cross-county rivals but they just didn’t,” Galamore said.

South Paulding faced off against New Manchester on April 12. Prior to the game Galamore said he has a lot of respect for the Jaguars as they are a new program, going through “growing pains” just as he had to face when South Paulding was first established.

After this game, the Spartans have six games left in the season, all against region opponents. With eight of the teams in the region all being fairly close in their region records, the pressure is on for the Spartans to win if they want a spot in the playoffs.

“The next three games will define seedings in the region. I’ll be interested to see how it plays out,” Galamore said.

While the next few games are critical according to Galamore, he said he feels his team has done a good job this season and has set itself up nicely going into the playoffs.

“We’ve done well by putting ourselves in a good position to put ourselves in the mix for playoffs. There are six or seven teams fighting for playoff spots,” Galamore said.

In the games prior to the North game, South Paulding defeated Lithia Springs 9-0, Hiram 9-4, and Rome 3-1. The game against Hiram was crucial as it helped prevent the Hornets from getting ahead in the standings. The game against Rome gave the Spartans “a hard time,” according to Galamore.

“We had really good pitching but they were all tough games, despite the scores. We had lots of late runs. Against Rome, we fought through some stuff but we made it. Hiram is always a big game since they’re five miles from us,” Galamore said.

As the team gets closer to the playoffs, the top hitters are junior Caleb Beavers, junior Jared Benson, senior James Maxwell and senior LaDeavon Mathews, Galamore said.

He said he has a “real soft bat compared to years before,” having fewer players with strong hitting abilities.

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